1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates generally valves, and more particularly to a device for de-jamming a valve.
2. Description of Related Art
Plumbing check valves can become jammed closed by corrosion or other causes, preventing the flow of fluids through the valve. This is especially a problem in a marine environment, where marine life and/or corrosion adheres to valves, causing them to get stuck shut.
Currently, it is necessary to disconnect the plumbing adjacent the valve and manually open the valve. This is time consuming and access to the valve may be difficult. The prior art has not adequately solved this problem, and there is a long-felt need for a device to simplify de-jamming valves.
The prior art teaches some specialty valves that have built-in de-jamming mechanisms. Examples of this are shown in the following references:
Liedtke, U.S. Pat. No. 7,540,721, teaches a check valve used in a paint pump. The check valve includes an automatic release mechanism that including a solenoid connected to the check valve with a pusher element which momentarily displaces a moveable element such as a ball in the check valve to break any adhesion between the movable element and a valve seat. A control provides a single pulse of energy to the solenoid each time power is applied to the pump. The control includes an SCR connected between a full wave rectifier and a coil of the solenoid, with gate current removed from the SCR to commutate the SCR after a predetermined time interval after power is applied.
Chaffee, U.S. Pat. No. 8,413,674, teaches a similar self-sealing valve that is part of an inflatable device. The valve includes an electromechanical device including an actuating arm, having a first position in which the actuating arm urges open the self-sealing valve and a second position in which the actuating arm does not act upon the self-sealing valve, so as to regulate an amount of fluid within the inflatable device. With this arrangement, a small, low power, low duty cycle electromechanical device can be used. The actuator arm is biased by the electromechanical device to open the valve by acting on a portion of the valve.
Anderson, U.S. 2004/0219027, teaches a paint pump that includes a combined strainer and valve release structure. The valve release structure includes pushrod that extends to adjacent the valve, so that it may be used to dislodge the valve in the event that it becomes stuck.
Cowan, U.S. Pat. No. 5,099,871, teaches an unloading mechanism for unloading a pump system. The unloading mechanism includes a check valve that includes a valve actuator for forcing open the check valve to unload the system.
The prior art teaches specialty valves that include a de-jamming mechanism. However, the prior art does not teach a de-jamming device that is operably connected between a check valve and plumbing for enabling de-jamming of the check valve. The present invention fulfills these needs and provides further advantages as described in the following summary.